Last Relay Decides Podium at 2019 MSHSAA Girls Class 1 State

by Suzie Fox 0

February 18th, 2019 High School, News

MSHSAA GIRLS’ CLASS 1 STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

  • Results
  • Saturday, February 16, 2019
  • St. Peter’s Rec Plex, St. Peters, MO
  • 2018 Class 1 Girls’ Results

The final podium standings were decided in the last event at the 2019 Missouri State High School Athletic Association (MSHSAA) Girls’ Class 1 State Championships held Saturday, February 16, 2019, at the St. Peters Rec Plex in St. Peters, MO.  Ladue Horton Watkins took the top spot with a score of 216 as a 400-yard freestyle relay win allowed MICDS (191) to pass Webster Groves (188) and take second place.

In the fall of 2017, MSHSAA divided high school boys’ and girls’ swimming into two groups – Class 1 and Class 2 – based on school size. Records set in Class 1 and 2 championships meets may be recognized as specific to the class or the overall record based on time.

TOP 5 FINAL GIRLS’ CLASS 1 SCORES:

  1. Ladue – 216
  2. MICDS – 191
  3. Webster Groves – 188
  4. Parkway West – 155
  5. Glendale – 143

The meet started off with the Central (Cape Girardeau) team of sophomore Ava Duncan, freshman Bella Dennis, senior Allison McDonald and sophomore Grace Sanders taking the win in the 200-yard medley relay (1:50.80). The Ladue Horton Watkins team of sophomore Mary Dieckhaus, junior Sophie Fredman, sophomore Talia Warticovschi, and sophomore Amy Pumm followed (1:51.07) touched in second.

Ladue senior and San Diego State University commit Paige Mitchell began her distance dominance with a close victory in the 200-yard freestyle. Mitchell had a final 50 surge of 28.69 to overtake Incarnate Word Academy junior Ellie Wehrmann 1:51.16 to 1:52.62. Mitchell’s prelim time of 1:51.02 almost tied Wehrmann’s 2018 Class 1 state record of 1:51.01.

In what could be considered the upset of the afternoon, Parkway West junior Lauren Beard took advantage of her lane two position in the 200-yard individual medley to drop 4.29 seconds from her prelim time (2:12.75) to win in 2:08.46. Beard’s time set a new Class 1 record, besting the 2018 time of 2:10.18 by Lutheran St. Charles’ Andrea Rogers. Incarnate Word senior Emily Schroeder dropped almost 2 seconds from her seed time to place second with 2:10.31. MICDS freshman Anna Scott Baur also broke the Class 1 record in her preliminary swim; however, she was disqualified, thus making her time invalid.

St. Charles High School’s sole qualifier and University of Kansas commit Autumn Looney began an impressive back-to-back run with a win in the 50-yard free. The 2018 winner of the same event, senior Looney swam 23.71 to take the win over The Summit Preparatory freshman Maggie Moore’s time of 23.80.

After a 20-minute break to replace the usual meet order of diving, Looney was back in the pool to take the title in the 100-yard butterfly in 55.01, just .02 off her 2018 Class 1 state record (54.99). MICDS freshman Sophie Henriksen placed second (56.93), and Battle senior and Illinois State commit Lauren Naeger finished third (58.31).

Incarnate Word’s Wehrmann repeated as 100-yard freestyle champion with a time of 51.93, only .2 seconds off her 2018 Class 1 state record time of 51.73. MICDS freshman Abby Wickersham placed second with a time of 52.20, and Glendale senior Ashley Baldwin took third with a time of 52.25.

Ladue’s Mitchell returned to dominance in the 500-yard freestyle, (4:55.66), swimming just 1.22 seconds off her overall Missouri Girls’ swimming state record of 4:54.44, which she swam in the prelims. Ursuline Academy senior and University of Massachusetts – Amherst commit Bella Snyder took second with a time of 5:05.07. Logan-Rogersville junior Cabrini Johnson touched third in a time of 5:10.64.

In the 200-yard freestyle relay, the MICDS team of Wickersham, Henriksen, Baur, and senior Alex Fox dropped their Class 1 state record time, set in the prelims, from 1:39.30 to 1:38.68 to take the win. The previous record of 1:40.01 was set by St. Joseph’s Academy in 2018. Ladue’s team of Fredman, Pumm, junior Harriet Bezzant, and Mitchell, touched .73 seconds behind to take second, with a time of 1:39.41. Most impressive was Mitchell turning in an anchor split of 23.83 following her 500-yard freestyle win.

The Summit Preparatory’s Moore and MICDS’ Henriksen raced in a freshman 100-yard backstroke battle that was decided with a .07-second difference. Moore touched the wall first with a time of 56.73 to Henriksen’s 56.80. Ladue’s Dieckhaus took third with a time of 58.89.

Logan-Rogersville’s Johnson’s 100-yard breaststroke first-place finish of 1:04.71 was .62 seconds off her Class 1 state record (1:04.09) set in prelims. The previous record of 1:05.41 was held by Parkway Central’s Abigail Levin. Clayton freshman Kellen Mottl came in second with a time of 1:05.44, and Pembroke Hill freshman Audrey Lambert rounded out the top three with a time of 1:07.06.

The final rankings were decided in the last race, the 400-yard freestyle relay. The MICDS team of Wickersham, Henriksen, Fox, and Baur took the event in 3:34.68, besting their Class 1 state record of 3:35.59 set in prelims. Ladue’s team of Mitchell, Dieckhaus, Warticovshi, and Bezzant took second in 3:38.09. The Webster Groves quartet of junior Elisabeth Ragan, senior and Grinnell College commit Kendra Howard, freshman Elizabeth Seitz, and junior Parker Hagemann claimed third in 3:40.69.

Westminster Christian Academy sophomore Margo O’Meara repeated as Class 1 State Champion in the 1-meter diving with a score of 520.25, more than 122 points over Notre Dame de Sion junior Caroline Knopke’s finish of 397.7 points. O’Meara’s 2019 score is just shy of the 1991 record of 523.5 held by Nerinx Hall’s Julie Grimmer. In addition to O’Meara’s prowess on the diving board, she finished 15th in the 50-yard freestyle, with a time of 25.60.

EVENT WINNERS

  • 200 Medley Relay: Central (Cape Girardeau) – 1:50.80
  • 200 Free: Paige Mitchell, Ladue – 1:51.16
  • 200 Individual Medley: Lauren Beard, Parkway West – 2:08.46
  • 50 Freestyle: Autumn Looney, St. Charles – 23.71
  • 100 Butterfly: Autumn Looney, St. Charles – 55.01
  • 100 Freestyle: Ellie Wehrmann, Incarnate Word Academy – 51.93
  • 500 Freestyle: Paige Mitchell, Ladue, 4:55.66
  • 200 Freestyle Relay: MICDS – 1:38.68
  • 100 Backstroke: Maggie Moore, The Summer Preparatory – 56.73
  • 100 Breaststroke: Cabrini Johnson, Logan-Rogersville – 1:04.71
  • 400 Freestyle Relay: MICDS – 3:34.68
  • One-Meter Diving: Margo O’Meara, Westminster – 520.25

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